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event were softening their bowling balls with chemicals. 1973 thus became known in bowling circles as "the year of the soaker". McCune would win three more 1973 titles on his way to earning PBA Player of the Year honors. He made ten (of his career 30) championship round appearances in 1973, made the
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McCune would not win another PBA title after 1973, but was inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame (Veterans category) in 1991. He also won two USBC Open championships (Classic Team in 1968 and
Classic Doubles in 1969) and had ten career top-ten USBC Open finishes on his way to earning USBC Hall of Fame
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McCune consulted with a chemist to get a list of solvents that would chemically soften the ball. He tried one of the solvents (he wouldn't say what, but it was thought to be methyl ethyl ketone) and soaked his hard plastic bowling ball in it overnight. He then took the ball to a bowling center in
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By the early 1970s, bowling lane finishes had changed to a less flammable and more durable, but harder surface. Most bowling balls at the time were either hard rubber or hard plastic, rated at 80 or higher on a zero-to-100 hardness scale. Even the best professionals were struggling to get their
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soon learned what Don was doing, and became the next player on tour to begin the soaking practice. Several other players followed. By mid-July, it was estimated that 22 of the 24 match play finalists in a
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After winning only two PBA titles in ten years as a pro, McCune won three titles in just the first half of the 1973 season using the softer, soaked ball. McCune's tour roommate
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final match seven times (going 6–1 in those matches), and earned a Tour-high $ 69,000 (equal to about $ 460,000 in 2022).
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507:"PBA 60 Most Memorable Moments: #44 Don McCune Uses Juiced Balls "Soaker" That Leads to Ball Regulations"
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The trend McCune had started was perfectly legal at the time, but soon led to new PBA and ABC (now
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McCune was a member of the U.S. Army and began bowling seriously in all-Army leagues.
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that he described as "a tough house" and rolled a 763 three-game series.
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McCune became a PBA member 1963, and won his first PBA title at the
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Inducted into USBC Hall of Fame (Performance
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titles in his career. Six of his eight titles came in the
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Inducted into PBA Hall of Fame (Veterans
Category), 1991
448:"The McCune Family: Three Generations of PBA Champions"
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and Jimmy
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bowling balls to hook on the lane. McCune once told
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364:"1973 PBA Bowling #NNO Don McCune"
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609:American ten-pin bowling players
589:Professional Bowlers Association
394:"USBC Hall of Fame – Don McCune"
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136:(PBA). McCune won eight
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335:Awards and recognition
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286:1973 Japan Gold Cup (
260:Milwaukee, Wisconsin
166:1968 Fort Worth Open
29:Personal information
160:Professional career
63:Bowling Information
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68:Affiliation
598:Categories
585:Don McCune
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536:mcubed.net
516:August 30,
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431:August 30,
403:August 30,
373:August 30,
351:References
325:Kyle Troup
313:Pete Weber
101:8 PBA Tour
40:1936-10-09
23:Don McCune
122:Las Vegas
398:bowl.com
368:tcdb.com
299:Personal
138:PBA Tour
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567:May 15,
562:pba.com
452:pba.com
242:Houston
198:Houston
89:Right (
485:si.com
126:Nevada
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321:Guppy
292:Japan
288:Tokyo
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202:Texas
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323:and
315:and
311:and
309:Dick
216:and
210:USBC
146:USBC
98:Wins
81:1963
34:Born
317:Don
72:PBA
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